Lisa Battiston, fellow reporter, and I were lucky to arrive at the Microbrewers' Festival quite early, where we met up with Alan and Sara. We sat in the sun, talking, smoking cigarettes and flipping through the program for the fest. I knew that beer can be brewed many different ways and styles, but I never realized the complexity of it.

Some of the beer I liked and, naturally, some of it, I did not. You've got your Lagers and Hybrid Beers, Strong Ales, India Pale Ales, Mild, Brown and Amber Ales, regular Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts, Wheat Beers, Saison, different styles of Belgian Beers, Cider, Mead, and Sorghum, Cask Conditioned Ales and Fruit Beers. Not to mention, there are even sub-categories for these categories of beer. . . Who knew there could be so many types of beer? This fest even had ReplicAle, which was Pre-Prohibition Ale.

I have always stayed away from Lagers, because I thought they were dark beers. That isn't necessarily true, though. They can be dark or light. The term lager means "to store." This beer is stored to age a bit before it's served. The Cumberland Cream Ale was one of the best beers I sampled. It was smooth and clean. It didn't have too much of a "beer" taste, and I'd rate this bitterness level at zero.

Pale Ales and India Pale Ales have never been a favorite of mine, as I've always felt I had the after taste of body odor in my mouth. Most I tried, met the same expectations, but not every single one I tried was quite as I had expected. I tried more Pale and India Pale Ales than any other type. Warbird's Golden Ale didn't taste bitter to me at all. It was actually rather smooth. Maybe I had enough to drink by that point, as it was near the end of our endeavor. Schlafly's Dry-Hopped APA was as I had expected.

I was handed my taster's glass with a rather thick head, and the bitterness level, to me, was probably about a 6. The first I had tried was Boulder Beer's Dazed and Infused. I think I tried it mostly for the name. This beer seemed smooth to me at first, but then of course, bitterness followed.

I tried the Cask Conditioned version of Bell's Two Hearted, which really wasn't too bad. I definitely wanted to try the cask conditioned beers because I've never had any type of beer served this way. Cask Conditioned is a type of beer served while it's still fermenting. Yeast is added to the keg while it's still being served. The thought of drinking fermenting beer makes me almost want to vomit in my mouth. However, it was rather refreshing (just like almost any beer) and luckily I did not get sick as I thought I might.

Last was the ReplicAle. Every year, there is a "special" brew. This was the Pre-Prohibition Ale. It was served by Alcatraz Brewing, Broad Ripple Brewpub, Mad Anthony, Ram Brewery and Rock Bottom Brewing. The breweries were given the same recipe and they all went to town to create their own version of the Pre-Prohibition masterpiece. I tried the Broad Ripple Brewpub's version and it was actually quite delicious. I didn't think it'd be as smooth as it was. I gave it a bitterness level of one.

The 12th Annual Microbrewer's Festival was a fun event. Not only were there 20 Indiana breweries and 15 out of state breweries, but food was provided by BadaBoomz, Hoghead's BBQ and Yats. The vendors and volunteers were all very kind. The overall mood of the event was very pleasant. This was my first year at this event, and I'd definitely like to return every year, as you should, too.